House Clifton in Dorset

“The family already knew what they wanted in terms of the interior layout. What was as important to them was the outside spaces, and how the pool and gardens related to the inside of the house. We often speak about how a house relates to the outside, here they were given equal billing. The stunning views to the south look down the valley to Uplyme and the sea beyond.” – Architect Anthony Cooper

This home combines a timber-clad element with white render; the design aims to create a bright yet modist feel. The light and airy entrance leads on to the living space, and the architects made sure to use the slope of the land to accomodate a basement level with access  to the garden, pool, cinema rooms, gym and sauna.

 “My favourite room is the kitchen dining area. It’s where family time is, where we spend time with our friends, it’s where I feel most at home,” explains the homeowner. 

The bedrooms on the first floor were designed to be a sanctuary away from the rest of the house. As with many of the rooms in this home, the designers felt it important to utilise the stunning outside scenery, and so the bedrooms have pretty views over the surrounding woodland.

For simplicity the building is finished using three materials, timber cladding, render and large areas of glass. The timber clad element has a sloping roof to reduce the scale on approach, and uses an anthracite-coloured modern clay tile.

“We totally understood that the need to build in a traditional method wasn’t necessary any more. A lot of people would ask us why are we building a house made of wood but when you see it being built it’s incredibly solid, it’s incredibly well engineered. It took about 2 ½ days for the house to go up,” says the homeowner,  “It was quite amazing to see.”

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